Reviews

I read and review both historical fiction and non-fiction, but also enjoy biographies, crime and some contemporary fiction. Please note that unless stated that I have received these books directly from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review, I either purchase my own copies or source them from my local library service.​Links to Amazon or Booktopia are only for further reference

As I read many books that are history-related, there are times when I’m in the mood for something more romantic and contemporary and this title fits that bill. It is also set in a region near to where I live, so that gave it added interest.

It’s a blockbuster with a mothers-daughters scenario. Edwina is the somewhat aloof widowed family matriarch and her three daughters are organising a birthday for her. Harriett is a surgeon who has many of the efficient, but controlling, traits of the first-born, Xara lives on a farm and has the easy-going and compromising middle-child qualities in spite of having rambunctious twins plus a disabled child, while the youngest Georgie is a school-teacher who lives in Melbourne and is still grieving over the loss of a baby.

When Edwina shocks everyone by bringing an old boyfriend, Doug, to the party, the stage is set for massive disruption to their lives and there is a ripple effect with other issues coming to light. Accusations start flying about Harriett’s husband, James, who appears to have got himself into major financial trouble at the expense of many locals.

From here on, the plot gets pretty complicated with Harriett taking whammy after whammy when her own daughter Charlotte defies her and Georgie’s new love interest Ben is found to have an unfortunate link to her mother’s boyfriend. When Edwina reveals her own secret, there is yet another bombshell. All of this you can see coming and the chances of so much happening in one family at the same time are pretty implausible but the narrative is fresh and the dialogue is entertaining, and it does the job of getting you thoroughly immersed in what is a mega soap opera, wondering how all these characters can possibly resolve their conflicts with one another.

Harriett isn’t at all likeable, but then she isn’t meant to be, and Edwina’s character is rather chilly and vague in the way that any rich and properly-raised woman who twiddles her pearls is supposed to be. Xara’s role as the glue-maker means she is less intensely drawn and Georgie’s situation deserves sympathy but she can be indecisive.

The exposure of the murky financial doings of James is the most credible part of the plot, but there’s a strangely old-fashioned 1950s vibe to the family’s other worries about their dirty linen being exposed in public. It is questionable whether in this day and age of open and casual relationships and blended families that people in Victoria’s once exclusive and wealthy “Western District” are really still that obsessed with social status and keeping up appearances as they were in past decades. The conclusion is also rather too pat, and it is difficult to believe that the driven autocratic Harriett could ever become a push-over for anything.

Also as with many novels, it is way too long at nearly 500 pages. I really enjoyed it until about page 350, when boredom started to set in. With a tighter edit and not quite so many scandals, secrets and controversies all competing for attention, I’d have gone for a 4 star rating, but it is a worthy 3.5.